The plentiful supply of gasoline, albeit at high prices, and the relaxation of the speed limit constraints have driven Mr. and Mrs. RVer back to the Interstate Highway System. More and more Americans and Canadians have been buying bigger and more luxurious Recreational Vehicles (RVs). These RVs generally have a kitchen facility which includes a refrigerator, which can be powered by any and all of 12 volt battery, 110 volt house current available in RV parks, and a fluid, such as propane or perhaps natural gas. These RV refrigerators are disposed within a compartment which is open in the front, and has abutting sidewalls, and abutting top and bottom walls. A rear wall closes off the compartment.
No matter which one or more power means is employed, heat builds up in the area of the storage compartment behind the refrigerator during periods of operation; i.e., between the rear wall of the refrigerator and the interior surface of the exterior wall of the coach. The retention of this heat can be detrimental to the longevity of the life of the food in the refrigerator. The stored food will spoil if not kept at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the refrigerator section, and at about 0 degrees Fahrenheit in the freezer section. Since the efficiency of the condenser of the refrigerator to dissipate heat, which is the same as creating cold, affects the temperature of the food, there is a need to get rid of the built up heat behind the refrigerator during periods of use, as this retained heat detrimentally affects the efficiency of the condenser and thus the interior temperature(s) of the refrigerator of the RV.
Applicant is aware of some manually actuated switch system that have been marketed to dissipate this retained heat. However, Mr. or Mrs. RVer sometime forget to either turn on or to turn off such manually actuated systems, with the result that after shutdown of the RV subsequent to the completion of a journey, the exhaust system which runs off the 12-volt power system of the RV oftentimes stays on and then runs down the battery to a full discharge state.
There is a need therefore for a system which will exhaust the heat built-up during the RV's refrigerator's operational period, but which will automatically shut off whenever the refrigerator itself is turned off, and which system will automatically turn on whenever the refrigerator is operational. Thus the actuation system should be keyed to the operation of the refrigerator, rather than to the mobility or immobility of the RV.
Applicant investigated the patent literature on this topic and the following patents turned up during the course of a search:
______________________________________ 2,562,286 M. R. Wall 2,705,404 H. S. Malutich 2,734,441 E. C. Williams 3,444,698 J. L. Lorenz 3,717,010 Slattery 4,864,269 Priebe 5,228,307 Koce 5,355,693 McConnell et al. ______________________________________
None of these patents either singly or in combination anticipates or renders obvious the subject matter of this invention.
It is an object therefore to provide a dual switch system to control dissipation of heat build-up behind an RV refrigerator.
It is another object to provide a switch system that is retrofittable to presently existing RV refrigerators.
It is yet another object to provide a switching system to dissipate the heat behind an RV refrigerator that will automatically turn on and automatically shut down thereby preventing 12 volt battery discharge.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the device possessing the features properties and the relation of components which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.